jlh Posted September 19, 2003 Share Posted September 19, 2003 Since Revo got such a rise from everyone out of such a tiny little voicing I thought I'd bring up one of my favorites. I've been using one form of it for decades, yet recently discovered some other properties of it. Then I found out it was called a tritone voicing. Again it's not a true chord, but the way I learned it the most important notes in a chord are the third and seventh. The third gives major/minor character and the 7th gives dominant or major extended feel. A7 E|----------------------| B|----------------------| G|---6------------------|3rd D|---5------------------|7th A|----------------------| E|----------------------| This creates a very tiny A7 chord. The interesting thing is that the major third and the dominant (flat) seventh are 6 half steps apart in either direction. That, I think, creates the tritone. The wisdom that was lost on me for so long is that in this voicing either note can act as a third or seventh. If you play the A string open with these, it sounds pretty clearly like a A7. But, if you play an Eb with it lo and behold it is an Eb7 too! An interesting side effect is that you have a very quick and dirty I - IV - V progression in three adjacent frets. Play in the 5th fret and it is an A7, 4th fret the third and seventh notes swap and it is a D7 likewise in the 6th fret it makes an E7. If you want to examine it more closely think A7 barchord 3 and 5 and D7 (like a C7 grip in the 3rd fret rather than the 1st). D7 E|---------------| B|---------------| G|--4------------|7th D|--5------------|3rd A|---------------| E|---------------| E7 E|---------------| B|---------------| G|--6------------| 7th D|--7------------| 3rd A|---------------| E|---------------| Now when somebody is blowing changes and you see that X7b5 chord all you have to worry about is finding the altered note and you haven't even stepped on the bass/piano's toes cause it's just a little chord. Once you get the idea this knowledge is really useful in lots of contexts like that. Makes a complex chord easy to find in a simple voicing without memorizing huge complicated fingerings that are too busy for combo playing anyway. My question is, is this just boring stuff that everybody knows and just takes for granted and I'm just stunted for not figuring it out years ago, or is it just a cool thing that most folks don't notice? Sorry for running on so. Jamie By the way, thanks Revo for the string template I could cut and paste! But never fear, you're safe with me... Well maybe. - Les Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tedster Posted September 19, 2003 Share Posted September 19, 2003 Great. The ONE time I don't have a geetar by my side so I can try it. "Cisco Kid, was a friend of mine" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caevan O’Shite Posted September 19, 2003 Share Posted September 19, 2003 Love it, love it, love it, jlh! By the way, Jimmy Page used that to great effect on "Rock and Roll". Damn near makes the song! Ask yourself- What Would Ren and Stimpy Do? ~ Caevan James-Michael Miller-O'Shite ~ _ ___ _ Leprechaun, Esquire _ ___ _ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitarzan Posted September 19, 2003 Share Posted September 19, 2003 though i haven't gotten that deep into the theory of it i have found this voicing somewhere. and have had some fun withit. i must have seen it in guitar player or something, it is very cool http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=193274 rock it, i will Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
george costanza Posted September 20, 2003 Share Posted September 20, 2003 A slightly different way of using this is to move the same shape as your first example up & down by one fret. On the first & second strings play it as a partial D7 (at the 3rd & 4th frets); move it down 1/2 step& now it's a partial A7 [ notice how this reverses the placement of the scalar 3rd & 7th]; move it up one fret from the original position & it's an E7. Same general idea as your's but without altering the fingering (& of course, it applies to the second shape, as well). [Ah, the magic of the guitar fretboard, compared to the piano!] Also, this is a great use of the forums (sharing info), not just boring stuff---and your suggesting about this as a way to avoid cluttered ensemble sound is spot on! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlh Posted September 20, 2003 Author Share Posted September 20, 2003 George, you caught me in a mistake there! When I read your post I thought that's just what I said. Then reexamined my drawings and realized I had messed up the tab. My apologies to everyone. As George stated this is how the D7 and E7 should look. D7 E|---------------| B|---------------| G|--5------------|7th D|--4------------|3rd A|---------------| E|---------------| E7 E|---------------| B|---------------| G|--7------------| 7th D|--6------------| 3rd A|---------------| E|---------------| By the way, all these voicings are pretty distortion friendly. A really white metal sound doesn't work too well, but these sound great with a blues or rock grind. Contritely, Jamie But never fear, you're safe with me... Well maybe. - Les Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D_dup3 Posted September 21, 2003 Share Posted September 21, 2003 This is a hip tactic. One interesting aspect is that each position suggests two different chords (somewhat, though not as fully, the way diminished & augmented chords function) depending on what the overall context is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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